Firefighters have expressed their frustration at 'stickybeaks' making their way on to fire grounds or launching drones, potentially hindering the ability for Country Fire Authority volunteers to protect their communities in the most quick and efficient way.

Acting Operations Manager Chris Bigham said that firefighters were seeing an increase of people presenting at fire grounds, whether by driving past, stopping firefighters to ask them questions as they arrive at the scene or by launching drones over a fire.

All are potentially dangerous and can inhibit firefighters from accessing or fighting a fire, but launching drones in the area of a fire, which has occurred in this region, can cause monumental safety risks as drones are a hazard to tactical aircraft and could result in them being grounded.

Mr Bigham urged people not to fly drones over or in an area surrounding a fire as it could compromise authorities' firefighting efforts.

Last year, prior to the bushfire season, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority released a video reminding drone users to adhere to the drone safety rules and not to fly near an emergency situation or in a way that would create a hazard to aircraft.

Accompanying the message, "If you fly - they can't. Someone's life could be on the line", the video states that the attached penalty is severe.

Emma Pritchard, a firefighter at Clunes Fire Brigade, recently expressed her and other members' frustration in the form of a Facebook post on the brigade's page, that people being alerted to an incident through the VicEmergency app were subsequently choosing to show up to have a 'sticky beak'.

Ms Pritchard, who also acts in a Community Engagement role at the brigade, said that firefighters had noticed more people turning up on foot, on motorbikes or in cars to fires, including at the recent fast moving grass fire near the Clunes township on January 29.

Another recent example was the Hepburn fire a year ago, during which people travelled to strategic locations in order to get a bird's eye view of the fire, using the same roads emergency responders were utilising.

Mr Bigham said if the wind had changed causing the fire to change direction, those people could have been unwittingly caught in a potential impact zone.

If people are receiving an alert through the VicEmergency app before firefighters themselves are paged, many are turning up at the scene of an incident before firefighters and other emergency services arrive and have a chance to set up roadblocks.

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Some people are even following fire trucks to incidents to see what unfolds with their own eyes.

Ms Pritchard said as firefighters arrive at a scene and try to work out the best source of entry, it is ideal to have the least amount of people in an area to reduce unnecessary congestion.

"When we are on our way to a job we are thinking about so many different things and the last thing we need to be worrying about is that extra layer of who else we need to be concerned about and who else we need to protect," she said.

Using the recent grass fire at Albert Street as an example, she said it was particularly dangerous as people who did not need to be near the scene were blocking firefighter access to roads and causing unnecessary increased traffic as well as putting themselves in danger.

She said the brigade had also experienced high traffic and people obviously driving by just to take a look when responding to an incident at Fairview, off the Maryborough Road.

She believes one reason for stickybeaks is that in an age in which people have access to news and information at the tip of their fingers, people also want access to information relating to an emergency incident instantaneously.

Ms Pritchard encouraged community members to play their part in an emergency situation and take responsibility for their own safety.

Mr Bigham said the app was a fantastic initiative designed to alert and educate the community about incidents to ultimately keep people safe and give them the opportunity to enact their fire plans.

As most incident scenes require a multi agency response and are attended by not only the CFA but also Ambulance Victoria, Forest Fire Management Victoria, Victoria Police and the State Emergency Service, there are already many people in attendance.

"We are all key responders and personnel in these types of incidents and so if we all take appliances, it is quite an increased dynamic and dangerous environment and yet we've got an increase in community members on the roads or in person on foot," Mr Bigham said.

"That adds to the potential for a collision or for an accident. That we really don't want."

Smythesdale Fire Brigade Captain Alwyn Parker, who has been involved with the CFA for 52 years, said he and his brigade had also noticed "rubberneckers" attending accident scenes and fires.

As the scenes of fires or road accidents are often investigated, he said another point was that with more feet on the ground, there was a potential for evidence to be compromised before crime scene or fire investigators arrive.

Community members are urged to use more than one source of information in an emergency, such as the Vic Emergency app as well ABC Radio.

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